Laps
by Risque Tendencies
Summary: They say running is a good method of working out one's frustrations, but not even that can save Kasamatsu from the mess he's in now. KasaKise fluff.


"Senpai, I'm tiiiiired~! Can we be done already? I need to wake up early tomorrow!"

A torrent of whining issued from thin pink lips as the blond grandstanded, pausing in the midst of the track's second lane to wipe sweat from his brow. They had been sprinting for the past hour and a half with water breaks in-between; if he was viewing things logically, he could accept that enough had been done for the day's training. Kasamatsu wasn't languishing in that frame of mind, however.

"It's hardly eight o'clock, Kise, quit your pouting," the elder boy jibed, steely eyes confirming the time with a quick check of his sports watch.

If the kid was going to be working the next day at one of his modeling gigs, Yukio might have relented. A bit.

Whatever the frivolous nature of the profession, he was well aware how early photo shoots commenced and how long they could span. It seemed incongruous for the yield of a few pictures, but that was the reality of things. The problem was he wasn't convinced that was what was actually transpiring. A popular high school boy on a Friday night – it seemed highly likely that Kise was looking to scoot off to some sort of party. Why wouldn't he? There were no shortage of invitations, and it wasn't like running laps could ever truly hold his attention.

The black-haired leaned against the steel railing. It was placed sporadically around the inner circle of the track, and rusted ever so slightly from the elements. Truthfully, being at a place like this, after dark, it was a little odd. The arena had a whole different vibe from day to night. In the earlier hours, it felt lively, the outdoor setting energizing even for the ones who came there in pursuit of testing their physical limits. Now, there was a loneliness to it, a solitude that encroached on anyone who was present.

As to why he'd dragged his junior out here for a run, there was no special reason. When asked, he'd told the blond he needed more discipline. It didn't much matter if Kasamatsu had graduated and was no longer his captain, he wouldn't stand for seeing Ryouta laze about.

"Can we at least do something else then? I'm bored of seeing this same turf again and again, so let's do new things instead."

"Fine, do as you wish," Yukio griped, releasing a jagged sigh.

For once he'd let the kid run off to wherever else he clearly wanted to be, seeing as how he wasn't going to get Kise to focus any time soon on their current activity. Placing both hands in his pockets, he about-faced and slowly capered in the direction of the exit. The frustration didn't feel like it was going to wear down any time soon. Typical.

"So, what are we going to do next?"

"Nothing. You can go home and that's what I plan on doing," the raven stated matter-of-factly.

"But you were just saying it was early still…?" A look of bewilderment lit the other's face, but Kasamatsu only stopped to look at it for a moment before he was off. Heading toward the edge of the field, he payed no mind to anything Kise might have been up to behind him.

As he walked, he felt his mood being warped by a great deal of disappointment.

Fine. He would admit to it, if only in his own mind. It wasn't entirely him being a strict taskmaster that he'd forced Ryouta to join him running tonight. Yukio was on a short break from his studies, and had returned home. While there, he was too selfish to miss out on an opportunity to be around the sirenic blond, even if it meant exhausting himself with the excuse he developed to obtain that company. Even more selfishly, some idiotic part of Yukio had hoped that maybe the guy might show signs that he was enjoying himself. Any hope of that had just been sufficiently crushed.

Kasamatsu didn't know why he wasn't glad - most crushes were nebulous things, but he at least knew where he stood, even if that meant realizing he stood no chance. With this knowledge, he should have just called it quits and moved on. There was no reason to agonize over something that couldn't be. Kise was a brilliant existence, in his own way, and he needed someone who better complemented that brightness. Other than that, the kid was just never going to see him as more than his captain and his senpai. And that should be okay.

Hell, it _was_ okay. It was simply less than what Kasamatsu wanted to mean to him.

"Oi, Senpai!"

He was suddenly seized on each side by the back of his arms, the capture shocking him into standing still, his body tensing up at once. The figure then let go and moved slightly to his front, circumnavigating Kise's face into view. The boy appeared somewhat troubled, a frown jumbling the usual happy semblance of his face. As Kasamatsu waited to hear what the request was this time, he found himself mirroring the expression. His concern exploded within his heart and threatened to flood out.

"…Did I do something to piss you off just now?"

"No, but you're making a run for it," he warned. "I can tell you're bored, so let's end it here for tonight."

"I'm not! Besides, you've always looked out for me, Senpai; I'm grateful for that. I don't mind doing something you want, occasionally."

Looking out for him, huh? He wasn't necessarily wrong.

_That_ day, at Inter-High, was one where he'd run through many levels of emotion. Seeing Kise so fragile was startling, but it had provoked out of him a protective state, hastening to pull the younger boy up and help to start the process of clearing his mind. In that particular moment, the goal was all that he was able to feel. Everything else was benched, for the time being. His own despair wasn't permitted to ingrain just yet. Knowing that he was making a difference for his junior was what had bolstered Yukio until he could be alone with his own thoughts.

Truthfully, that had always been the pattern. He felt this urge to step in, to almost coddle the kid when times were exceedingly tough. Maybe at practices he slave drove him, but he did that with everyone on the team. Every now and then though, Kise would hit a wall of some sort, and get into a mood. Every time, Yukio would be the one to yank him out of it. Putting it in those terms, maybe he could see how the prodigy would see it that way.

"But there's only so much running around a track a person can stand, honestly!"

And there it was. His professed obedience had reeked of having some limitations, but at least they were ones Yukio could comprehend. Tonight's activity wasn't the most creative he could've come up with, nor the most engaging. He couldn't blame the other for getting bored. After all it wasn't like Kise got anything extra out of merely being in the same space as him like he did with the blond.

As soon as the words invaded his mind, they quickly soured. Kasamatsu was frustrated. At times like the present, he acted like an idiot around this younger guy all because he was too chicken shit to express his feelings. That wasn't like his normal personality at all, and it irritated him to reflect back and see how he'd been behaving. That irritation twisted at his gut, building within him an even more idiotic desire to lay everything out on the line. Even if he knew it was useless. If he couldn't glean a happy ending, at least he would go out having been honest and true to himself.

"What do you think about getting something to eat before we go home, Senpai? I think we've earned it!"

Blue-gray irises peered up the suggestion, briefly drinking in the sight of Kise grinning set against the night sky. The kid, as gloomy as he had seen him at times, was contagious in the moments when he was truly happy. The last thing Yukio wanted was to be the cause of interrupting that happiness, but he didn't think he could keep a lid on everything for much longer.

Huffing from the inner turmoil, he cradled one hand against his vision for a moment. For some unknown reason, the raven felt blood pooling in his cheeks, setting them alight with a warm blush; he cursed the pesky occurrence. He hadn't even said anything yet! What he needed was to get himself together and just spit it out already!

In review, perhaps he could have tried to plan it out better.

"I like you," he blurted awkwardly, biting his tongue to curtail the 'idiot' he wanted to add to save a little face. There was no chance of redeeming himself now, after saying that out of what would seem like the blue. If he was a more delusional person, maybe he could have lied to himself that Kise hadn't heard his quiet admission, but it wouldn't have worked for long.

Ryouta's eyes magnified visibly. He had definitely heard him.

Kasamatsu froze where he was standing, and shocked rolled over him like a particularly brutal wave. He could only wait to see where the dominoes would fall, once the kid had some sort of obvious reaction other than surprise.

"I'm sorry, but I actually already knew that." The younger let a husky laugh push past his lips, fingers brushing casually against his abdomen and mussing his shirt. "Part of the reason I can play the way I do now is because I know I am supported. That Senpai cares about me, and would want me to play the game how it's meant to be done. It inspires me."

Kasamatsu flushed deeper, and his hands compacted into fists. It pissed him off more than anyone knew to hear this airy incarnation of Kise spouting off nonsense, misleading him that the blond understood his actual meaning. _Of course_ he cared about the idiot's game, but as disgusting as it may be, that wasn't the end of his caring!

Losing control of his impulses, he flattened one palm and sent it shooting straight into the model's midsection, causing the taller boy to lurch forward slightly in pain.

"Senpai!" the younger began to wail incessantly, confusion reigning, "what was that one for?!"

"Kise," Kasamatsu rapidly commanded in a deep tone, "don't complain for what I'm about to do."

"Wha-Mmmphh"

Pouting lips were soon silenced as their elder closed his own over top, the raven tugging Kise's head down for better reach. He lingered, mouth pressing harshly against the other's and then slowly and more tenderly easing away. Kasamatsu's heart was soaring so loudly he could feel the pulse in his ears, but strangely, his nerves were calm, dulled down to a state of anticipating nothing. As he pulled outward, he noticed blankly that a hot magenta blush had gathered around those high cheekbones, hazel eyes wide and astonished.

"Uh… well… Senpai is amazing as always," came the shaken reply a few seconds of their staring contest later, "I didn't think you'd ever do that to me. Even though I hoped it might… happen, one day," Ryouta marginally stammered, looking at a loss. His flashy personality bumped down a few notches.

"What?!" the elder boy deadpanned, "What exactly are you saying?"

"I know Kasamatsu-senpai loves me, and that it's _that_ kind of love. I'm not dense."

Kasamatsu felt like screaming. All this time he'd danced around his feelings, only to have Kise know the whole time? Was the brat trying to torture him? Was he gaining some sick enjoyment from watching him squirm?

All of those colorful thoughts and more blitzed down Yukio's neural pathways, but the mature part of him knew he had to let them go. Kise was (probably) not a sadist, no matter how much he'd feel better by painting the other that way, and this was pointless besides. He had basically accepted his confession! That fact meant he could breathe a sigh of relief. However, he'd be damned if he wasn't embarrassed he'd had to go to such lengths to win the ace over. He desperately needed to find a way to recover some of his pride.

His junior was due for some payback, Kasamatsu reasoned.

"I'm not about to let you stick it in anywhere, just so you know."

Ryouta chuckled blithely, thinking to himself that his senior really could be cute, holding a crush on him for so long and yet being adamant about how they'd supposedly couple. It kind of made him wonder what exactly had been imagined when it came to those aspects. There were many ways of making love, but what would appeal to the raven's tastes? He definitely wanted to find out!

In the meantime, though, perhaps he could set the elder to rest with a little blunt honesty.

"That's okay! For now, I really want Senpai to put his …-"

A hand deftly covered the smile that had sold countless magazines, impeding the dangerous phrase from being completed aloud. Staggering on the sidewalk and as red as a brick, one, Kasamatsu Yukio, was ready to announce defeat. He had to have been insane to take a brat like this on.


End file.
